BIO

Michaelanne Helms works as a clinical art therapist and community artist. She provides creative therapeutic opportunities for individuals and groups to progress toward mutual healing and growth. Employing her clinical skills, her expertise in teaching and coaching with visual arts, and her passion for community work, Michaelanne connects easily with folks where they are and explores ways to journey together toward shared vision and purpose.

Born and raised in rural West Virginia, Michaelanne experienced “making” as a part of daily life for purposes of utility, for self and communal regulation, for extending care towards a neighbor, and for the simple joy that accompanies it. She studied Scenic Art in college graduating from Messiah University in 1999 and subsequently enjoyed painting scenery in theaters across the country. In 2006, Michaelanne moved to Hunting Park, North Philadelphia to work as the Community Arts Director at Ayuda Community Center where she created Orange Korner Arts, an after school art center for teens and their families. Her relationships with neighbors in North Philadelphia greatly shaped her convictions about how essential human connection is for thriving and the role that our shared history of racist oppressive systems has played in feeding the isolation and othering that works to destroy human kinship. Through Orange Korner Arts and her subsequent work as a community artist through organizational and freelance work in Pennsylvania and abroad, she facilitated the installation of over 20 large-scale public works of art designed and created by the communities she worked with. These experiences demonstrate the powerful role that the arts can play in facilitating dialogue and fostering human connection. Seeking to deepen her understanding of the connection between human interplay with art materials and psychological exploration and healing, she studied at Pratt Institute, graduating with distinction in 2023 with a Masters of Professional Studies in Art Therapy and Creativity Development.

Michaelanne is the recipient of the 2013 Making a Difference Award by the Health Partners Foundation in Philadelphia, PA. She has received two Art and Change Grants as a Change Partner from Philadelphia’s Leeway Foundation for 2015 and 2016. She is a registered art therapist (ATR-P) and is licensed in the state of Maryland as a Graduate Professional Counselor (LGPC) and as a Professional Art Therapist (LGPAT). She also carries a professional certification in College Student Wellbeing, Trauma & Resilience from Florida State University (2023).

Michaelanne currently works as a therapist at Jane’s Place, a nationally accredited Child Advocacy Center in Western Maryland where she resides with her husband and two children. She continues to incorporate art making into all aspects of her life for grounding and for the joy it brings her.